End violence against women and save $1.5 trillion a year - Patricia Scotland
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland makes the economic case for ending the violence against women. As we head towards the end of the year, many of us will soon be surrounded by our family and friends sitting around dinner tables as we celebrate the festive season. Looking around the table and reflecting on the fact that, on average, every third woman you see will have experienced sexual or physical abuse at some point in their lives. This violence is not a remote act happening in other people’s homes, it lives all around an uninvited guest at the table. It thrives on secrecy, infiltrating homes, communities and workplaces. Yet we are nowhere near an appropriate global response that addresses the scale of this problem. If we are serious about tackling this issue, we cannot continue down the same path, or we will rob ourselves and women around the world of the future and life they deserve. Violence against women and girls is not only one of the most pervasive human rights violations, but it also has significant economic costs. And this is proven, the global economy loses $1.5 trillion every year due to the consequences of violence against women, ranging from money...